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Topic: LG Front Load Washer LE Error code (Read 108913 times)

Model # WM2487HRM, this washer would being a cycle, but shortly after filling with water would display an 'LE' error message and stop the machine. The customer was a little concerned about the whole thing because another technician had already been out twice to replace parts, and both times he left to order more. I visiting this machine while riding with another tech one day who had a followup call to install more parts. The good new is, we didn't need the parts, and the machine is up and running.

The 'LE' error message indicates the control board has detected that the motor is either not turning, or has locked up for some reason. Monitoring the motor is the job of the hall effect sensor board which constantly determines the direction and speed of the motor and feeds that information back to the control board. If there is a problem between what the motor should be doing and what the hall effect sensor says the motor is doing, the 'LE' will be displayed and the cycle will be stopped.

Motor lock can be caused by several things from a loose connector, to a bad motor, or even the hall effect sensor failing or dislodging from it's mount. Any one or more of these components could have caused this error, but it is possible to separate the working from the non-working, just by following a process. The reason this particular unit has been on the injured list for so long is the first tech never followed a trouble shooting process to ensure the parts being replaced had actually failed.

If we take a look at the motor circuit of this washer, you should notice we can do our checks right from the control board by verifying voltage outputs to the motor and sensor boards, and then after removing power to the machine, do resistance checks to those same components. By doing these checks you are first eliminating the control board as the problem because if the output voltage is present, it must be working. And second you eliminate the component and wire harness because if you read the correct resistance, then they must be working. Which ever one isn't reading correctly must be the problem. Sounds simple enough, but unfortunately, the first tech never did either check and just ordered parts.

On my visit, the process was simple. We verified voltage from the control board, and finding it was good, we next went on to do the resistance checks. Starting with the motor, we checked resistance between each of the windings until the condition of each one was verified and here is where we found the problem. A reading of between 5 and 15 ohms should be read between any two wires, but on two of them, we were reading almost infinite resistance which would indicate an open motor winding. Figuring we now have a problem with the motor, the next stop was to check the motor at the connector. Here we did the same check, but this time the appropriate resistance readings were found which would now indicate the motor is good. This left the harness as the failure. A quick resistance check on each wire showed one of them (the blue one actually) was open.

Knowing we now had a back harness (and not wanting to tell the customer we needed another part) I started pulling the harness apart to get a look at each wire, and that's when I found it. The top photo shows the small cut in the wire that over time, became a larger gap until it finally just stopped working. I was able to repair this wire with a little solder and heat shrink tubing, which worked well for the customer. Had the first technician followed a good trouble shooting process, this problem could have been solved much earlier.

The moral of this story. Understand what you are checking, be consistent in your process, and always verify a failure two ways if possible. Knowing which part has failed always beats hoping you know which part has failed.

Brian what type of voltage does this machine's motor use? Is it low voltage ac or variable dc?

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This washer uses a three phase DC motor. The voltage to each phase will be a consistant amplitude, but the frequency applied between the the three phases will change to achieve different rpm settings and direction.

That makes sense. The 3 phase will keep the motor cool and strengthen it substantially and the variable power input will control the cycles for delicate, prema-press, and heavy duty. Pretty cool. If those boards are good quality then it might be worth the investment, but I don't see it with made in 3rd world country parts.

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May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

About the icons: The beer is tip link, if a tech saves ya some money buy em a 6 pack. The small green square=personal message. The green dot is a link to my web page on appliance repair and other general BS I love to post. The letter sends me email.I love fan letters! LOL

Since I have a wm2496 which I assume would be fairly similar, it would be interesting to know what caused that wire to open. In your picture it looks as though it burned through. Was there a place where it rubbed on something and then cut the insulation then shorted out? Or did it draw to much current and overheat? How easy or hard was it to get to the harness to do your checks? Do you think this is a common problem or an isolated incident? I would be a little concerned if was caused by a rub through because of the amount of vibration the machine has during the spin cycle.

Mark

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and When all else fails RTFM (read the "funny" manual)

The wire harness has nothing close to it so it wasn't due to rubbing anything. I am guessing damaged during production or installation and it finally became the weak link in the harness. The harness is easy to get to once the rear panel is removed and it is actually a short section of wire that connects to the main harness at the bottom of the washer and then runs up to the motor itself. I am not aware of the harness being a common problem, but the LE error has been causing problems for LG for awhile. The problem has been more with a wire in one of the motor windings going bad than an individual wire harness.

I realise that this is an old topic, but I have the same problem on an LG WM0532HW

The washer was getting no power, so I replaced the main PWB - now it gets power but the drum doesn't spin either via a regular wash cycle or during diagnostics.

During the regular spin, it tries for a couple of minutes and then gives an LE error. If I try during diagnostics it makes a sound like it's trying to spin but something, somewhere isn't connected. I also tried changing the stator assembly to no avail

In the OP, TechnicianBrian says:If we take a look at the motor circuit of this washer, you should notice we can do our checks right from the control board by verifying voltage outputs to the motor and sensor boards, and then after removing power to the machine, do resistance checks to those same components

Can someone explain that to a layman? I have a multimeter but I'm not sure exactly what the voltage should be or how to verify.

Anything else I could check? I've already invested the money in a new gasket, new circuit board and stator so I'd like to get some more use out of this - but I doubt I want to spend another $100+ on the whole motor only to find it's a wire somewhere

It sounds like there is a problem with the hall effect sensor board as it sounds like you have replaced the rest of the components. Get to the main board, look for the hall sensor connector which should be a white connector with white, blue, red, and gray wires. Use a multimeter to measure between the white and gray with power on. You should read 10-15vdc, if not the board is bad. Then measure between the blue and gray wires while slowly rotating the motor. You should see a pulsing 10vdc and the same thing if you measure betwen red and gray. If you don't measure anything, then the wiring needs to be checked for an open circuit. If you measure less than 10vdc, or the voltage does not pulse as you rotate the motor, the sensor board is bad. You can also verify the wiring to the motor by measuring between any two wires on the red motor connector with blue, red, and yellow wires. You should read between 5 and 15 ohms between any two wires. If you measure an open circuit on any of them, then time to check the wiring harness for a broken wire, or a loose connection on either end.

just to make sure I'm not high, is this what I do for the first check?

i) remove the blue/white/red/gray connector from the main PWBii) turn power to the washer oniii) with my multimeter set to 20 DC voltage, stick the prongs in the squares where the white and gray cable should beiv) expect to see 10 --> 15vdc in the reading

I do suspect the board is bad as I know for sure that partstore sent me a used item. The previous purchaser left the RMA in the static bag it came in.

For the second test, do the same thing but measure between blue and gray while turning the drum. Hope to see a pulsing 10VDC... Repeat with red and gray